'Transport has always been in my blood': How a Northern Ireland family built a 400-strong £100m logistics business

Transport has always been in my blood.

I grew up in Loughgiel, in rural Co Antrim, where my dad Liam and uncle Shaun had an agricultural and transport business. From an early age I was surrounded by tractors, machinery and lorries. As the first grandchild, I think they were slightly disappointed I was a girl – but that certainly didn’t stop them putting me in a boilersuit as soon as I could walk!

Years later, Dad, Shaun, my brother John and I started TST Group around our kitchen table. It is incredible to think how far that small family business has come.

Today, TST Group is a Ballymena-headquartered logistics business providing transport, warehousing, customs and distribution services across the UK and Ireland. We employ more than 400 people and operate more than 300 trucks, 500 trailers and around 1.5 million sq ft of warehousing.

For me, what makes TST different is that we have been able to combine that scale with the agility and personal service of a family business. We want to show that a Northern Ireland business can compete with the very best.

There really is no such thing as a typical day in logistics. I’m usually based at our Ballymena headquarters, but my role takes me regularly across the UK and Ireland. My focus today is increasingly on business strategy, growth and, most importantly, our people.

One minute I can be discussing an acquisition or reviewing financial performance and the next dealing with an operational challenge. I love that variety. No matter how much we grow, it is still very important to me to know what is happening on the ground. Our daily 10-minute morning meeting with all our department heads helps with that.

Seeing something that started around our kitchen table grow into a business employing hundreds of people is difficult to beat. Our first major warehousing contract in 2018 completely changed TST Group’s direction and gave us the confidence to become a full logistics provider.

More recently, expanding across Great Britain and our acquisition of GCS Logistics at Heathrow have been huge milestones. Every new depot still gives me that same ‘pinch me’ feeling. I’m incredibly proud of how far we’ve come.

But the journey hasn’t been without its challenges.

Without question, the hardest moment of my life was losing my only brother John in a car accident when he was just 21. At 22, I had to learn how to live with unimaginable grief while helping keep alive the business we were only beginning to build together.

It gave me a resilience and perspective that have shaped the person and leader I am today. TST Group will always mean far more to me than a business. Every milestone we reach is part of the legacy we continue to build in John’s name.

I’m most proud of the people who have grown alongside TST Group and the opportunities we’ve created here at home. We have brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, sons and daughters working across the business. There is something incredibly special about someone choosing to recommend TST Group to their own family.

Even now, driving to work in the morning and seeing one of our lorries on the road gives me a feeling of pride that never gets old. From playing office on my little yellow typewriter as a child to seeing what TST Group has become today is something I’ll never take for granted.

There is a lot happening at TST Group at the moment. We recently acquired GCS Logistics at Heathrow, moved into a larger Birmingham depot after outgrowing our previous site and are expanding our Ballymena headquarters to accommodate our growing team.

We’re also exploring further acquisitions and launching a new Business Transformation function, bringing in international MBA graduates to focus on AI and innovation. Alongside that, we’re growing the TST Group Academy to develop the next generation of logistics talent and give something back to our industry and local communities.

Our ambition is to build a £100m independent logistics group and become the premier third-party logistics provider across the UK and Ireland – headquartered right here in Northern Ireland.

Brexit gave us confidence rather than holding us back. By investing in customs expertise, we realised borders didn’t have to be barriers. Today, from Ballymena, we can manage freight across the UK and Ireland and as far as the USA and China.

Geography should never limit the ambition of a Northern Ireland business.

Being a finalist in the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme has also been incredibly personal. I remember watching it with my dad when I was young, never imagining I’d one day be part of it.

To now experience the programme alongside him, after everything we’ve built and been through together, is incredibly special. I’m hugely proud to represent TST Group and Northern Ireland alongside such an amazing group of finalists.

The biggest thing I’ve learned through EOY is just how much entrepreneurs can learn from one another. I’ve met incredible people from across the island of Ireland, working in completely different industries, yet so many of the experiences behind our businesses are the same.

The openness of that community, the willingness to share experiences and the friendships we’ve built have challenged my thinking and made me more ambitious.

I’ve learned to think bigger, while staying humble and appreciating the journey we’ve already been on.